Eritrean soccer scores own goal

15 Dec 2009 07:34 (South Africa)

Eritrea's national football team has gone missing after failing to return home from a tournament in Kenya. They didn’t make it to the 2010 World Cup, and just got knocked out of a regional competition for East and Central African nations. Eritrea’s government faces sanctions from the African Union, EU and US for being complicit in Somalia’s anarchy and denying human rights at home. So, when the team plane landed back in Eritrea, only the coach and an official disembarked. But being the kind of regime that bullies its own people, they have denied any players are missing, despite the country’s football federation confirming this. Apparently, this is the third time the Eritrean team has not come home after a tournament. Eritrean officials reckon they stayed in Nairobi, among the many Eritreans exiles. While the nation’s soccer won’t benefit from this kind of thing, there must be a whole slew of youngsters waiting in the wings who will now get some game time.
Read more: BBC, BBC